McCollum, Omar seek re-election in safe blue congressional districts

After winning primaries this summer, Democratic U.S. Reps. Betty McCollum and Ilhan Omar have less stressful paths to victory in November's general election.

Both McCollum and Omar are expected to easily win new terms representing their reliably blue seats, though next year's House could be far different than the political reality they've experienced lately.

Democrats won the majority in the 2018 midterms and held onto it in 2020, but Republicans are focused on breaking that streak and need to net five seats to take control of the House. The political climate — and recent midterm voting patterns — means that shift is a real possibility.

"It's so important that we keep the House because of the Republican agenda that would move forward," said McCollum, who overwhelmingly defeated DFL primary challenger Amane Badhasso in August.

McCollum has a large money advantage over Republican opponent May Lor Xiong with early voting underway in the state. Recent campaign finance filings show the incumbent raised more than $264,000 from July 21 through the end of last month and still has around $449,000 left to spend. Xiong raised more than $66,000 during that time and has less than $34,000 in cash.

"I'm running on my record, as I did in the primary, of working and listening to what people care about," McCollum said. "We're hearing a lot about women's rights at the door."

It isn't lost on Xiong that running for the seat in a very Democratic area is tough, but the GOP candidate maintained in an interview that "this year is very different."

There's more money in play for Omar's race as she faces a challenge from Republican Cicely Davis. But Davis' attempt to defeat Omar in the heavily Democratic district is a long shot.

While Davis brought in close to $580,000 and outraised Omar in the most recent round of reports, the Republican has less than $140,000 in spending power left. Omar reported raising more than $465,000 and had close to $210,000 banked at the end of last month.

"There is just general national interest, because of who my opponent is, to unseat her," Davis said earlier this month, later adding that "we have an opportunity here to not only just unseat the first 'Squad' member, but to get our district back."

For Omar, this fall's election will mark the end of a tumultuous cycle that saw her almost lose the primary to former Minneapolis City Council member Don Samuels. While the roughly 2-point primary victory for Omar sent shockwaves within Democratic politics, Omar is primed to win a third term next month.